Japan as Read and Dreamt About by Emilie Papatheodorou

Despite having never been there, Emilie Papatheodorou knows Japan well. Having studied the language for two years when she was at college, the journalist for the Mode Portrait format on Clique now continues to learn about the country’s culture through reading and cinema.

Sensitivity towards Japanese cinema

Her Japanese pantheon includes filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, who she was lucky enough to meet, and his film Shoplifters, which was awarded the Palme d’or at Cannes in 2018. There is also Narayama by Shohei Imamura, another recipient of the Palme d’or (in 1983), the subject of which, namely the treatment of elders by society, echoes the issues examined by the journalist.

In August 2021, with the publication of her first novel L’aube américaine (‘The American Dawn’), Emilie Papatheodorou embarked on her career as an author. In the novel, she addresses the relationship between a young woman and her grandmother, whose memories are beginning to slip away. The narrative unfolds in New York and recounts the journeys of immigrant families, their hopes and moments of despair, all in a spirited style.

L’aube américaine (‘The American Dawn’) (2021), a novel by Emilie Papatheodorou, is published by Albin Michel (not currently available in English).